Saturday, December 30, 2017

Summing Up 2017

I know I am guilty of not summing up the year 2016 and some
of you might have missed that annual ritual in my blog so here I am back to sum
up 2017.

As always I would begin with some interesting statistics and
then go on to some elaborations.

Countries visited (in chronological order) – Ecuador,
Colombia, Panama, Norway, Greece, Germany, Nepal, Bulgaria, Montenegro,
Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Slovenia, Italy, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Total
17 countries including 3 first time (Montenegro, Kosovo, Laos), which has now taken
the number of countries visited to 178. This leaves me around 18 more to chalk
up during the rest of my life. Unless UN
adds more recognized nations to its list.

Total distance covered (approximately) – I travelled to
three continents, crossing the Atlantic and several seas couple of times, and
as per my guesstimate during 2017 I had covered around 148,000.00 km. Of this,
around 100,000.00 by air, 40,000.00 by road and water, and 8000.00 on foot. I
spent total 271 days outside of India and of the 94 days in India, only 22 days
when I wasn’t on the road. And these 22 days were spread through several cities
and towns.

Physical extremities - highest point – just above Balcony on
Everest south side at 8250m, while the lowest must be somewhere underwater in
the Aegean Sea.

January 1st 2017 I was upon a mountain that is
the highest in the world when measured from Earth’s Centre, namely Chimborazo
in Ecuador. It was my third ascent of this peak. From there several other high
mountains including Everest saw my presence. Aberration to my choice of places
to visit happened towards the end of the year when I took an impromptu flight
into Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. What exactly was I doing there beats me
except I know for sure that I was gorging full time on mangoes and exotic
fruits while gulping in staggering number of temples and religious sites in all
shapes and sizes.

As always the year was full of adventures of body, mind and
soul and I met and shared my life with hundreds of people from around the globe
that I crossed paths with at places where neither of us were meant to be, yet
there we were. Memorable among them, an old Finnish man with severe gout
relaxing by the Sea upon a deserted island, a middle aged Swiss Lady in search
of her ideal man, a young girl bereaving the loss of her soul mate, a monk with
FB account full of beautiful girlfriends, a French lady sketching the
magnificent sunset upon Mekong while her partner patiently holding her parasol,
an old German lady capturing her trip through watercolours, while a young
Spanish maid looking for an escape from her life. I found generosity and
kindness everywhere, all doors opened to me and never was I shunned or hated or
turned away. If we are willing to open our soul to others that’s exactly what
we would receive in return, I learned this lesson once again.

There were lives and deaths too. Three of my climbing
friends departed mortality doing exactly what they loved doing while two became proud parents. I continued to spread
my message on dissolving boundaries of body and mind in order to accept and
understand each other through our differences and not live in fear or hatred of
the unknown. I told stories and hearkened more, I stopped and paused often too,
pondering and just learning to be in the being. I continued to read and passing
from one book to another, always leaving one behind from where I picked a new
one.

I finally accepted that to learn some form of musical
instrument I must seek one that is easy and compact to carry and my ambition of
becoming a piano or harp or saxophone virtuoso was as imbecile as impractical.
My piano teacher suggested harmonica and so I now have a harmonica, I also have
a pack of card (though I don’t play cards), which is the same thing more or
less. Both of which are easily carried in person no matter where I go.

I also sent inquiries of my first inspirational book to
several international book agents and publishers. Needless to say they all
declined, either I wasn’t good enough or they weren’t interested in this genre.
Friends suggested self publishing in Kindle, yet I tarry. Let’s see what
happens in this regard in 2018.

I began the year being 4 kilos underweight, then gained some
before Everest, plummeting again abysmally upon the mountain and finishing the
year at exactly where I was at the beginning. Remarkable what a diet of fruits,
salads and brisk walking can achieve.

I am slowly coming to terms in accepting my mother’s
physical absence; time is indeed the healer, even though her memories are
becoming stronger. I talk about her to everyone more, keeping her alive through
my words and passing it to others. I regret less now about the fact that I
didn’t spend enough time with her, having accepted that I always did my best
under the circumstances. Regret is never the solution, rejoicing is. I rejoiced
more this year that I was born to her and that I am whatever I am is due to her
guidance and lessons.

I tried to become a better version of me, and know for
certain that best is yet to come and never will. Yet we must continue to strive
upwards and onwards.

Was the year meaningful, some might inquire... as meaningful
as the word is, it was a year, a collection of 365 days and 31,536,000 seconds
give and take a few. If you want, you can find some meaning within this time
span while my Zen mind has taught me to be without being. Hence if there was a
meaning then it is still out there somewhere while I am just being be. Not all stories can be told, not because some are not worth telling, but because there are simply too many to be told and not enough time to relate and hear. The stories that came out of 2017 might or might not be ever told but they remain the foundation upon which I shall build 2018. And thus from one year to another life will and must go on.

I would like to conclude 2017 by expressing my deepest
gratitude and love to each one of you who showed me the way through your
kindness, love and words and actions. To you, my friends, I offer my stories
weaved out of my memories of this year and the ones gone by while the New Year
and the ones to follow hold promise of untold wealth and priceless memories. Never forget to breathe, to hydrate and to slow down and to look within where all answers lie waiting to be found.

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About Me

As a child, i had three wishes: to be a submariner (i did), to be a published author (i did, but won't rest till the Nobel and Booker rest on my mantle) and to be a mountaineer (still trying to fulfill this one).I am otherwise a globe trotting thrill seeker and have climbed the seven summits and skied to both the poles and then some.

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BLOG FOR CLIMBING AND IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS

There is a drama and beauty to be found in the world’s most hard to reach places that far exceed the intensity we experience in our normal everyday lives. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from the fact that this pure happiness is usually only achieved after suffering some great hardships. In this mechanistic modern world, our primordial instincts for survival are often left untested, driving us to seek out those places where life is still hard.